Banking Department staff attends Digital Government Summit

A group of staff members from the New Hampshire Banking Department attended the New Hampshire Digital Government Summit in Manchester on Tuesday.

The fourth annual conference included an informative seminar on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance for New Hampshire state agencies. Kathryn Michener, Director of User Experience and Chief Digital Accessibility Officer with the Department of Information Technology, spoke on treating compliance as risk management and taking practical steps toward more inclusive digital services.

“Coming out of the seminar on ADA compliance, I have a better understanding of issues that could present problems for people with visual impairments or other disabilities,” said Michele Kelleher, Executive Strategic Performance Advisor with the Banking Department. “I feel that the New Hampshire Banking Department has been proactive in making sure that our website is compliant, but there is always more that can be done. We want everyone that comes to our website to be able to access the information that they need.”

The digital summit also featured a keynote address from Shawnee Delaney, the CEO of Vaillance Group and a former spy with the Defense Intelligence Agency. Delaney spoke on espionage and cyber security risks and prevention. Delaney explained how potential targets were recruited to act as spies for the United States and how certain motives can be exploited.

“I thought it was really interesting to learn how agents select their marks and use different tactics and techniques to determine their motivation and establish relationships with them,” said Banking Department Financial Examiner Elisha Burnor. “(Delaney) explained that the motivations for almost all informants providing insider information are either money, ego, coercion, or ideology, though coercion rarely works.”

Other seminars included topics such as preparing for cyber incidents, taking a balanced approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI), keeping data secure, protecting New Hampshire infrastructure from cyber-attacks, and tips for educated procurement of third-party relationships and technologies.

Key takeaways cited by Banking Department staff included a better awareness of being prepared for a cyber security incident before it occurs, what infrastructure might be at risk to attacks, how we can be more inclusive for disabled persons, emerging concerns with AI, and what steps can be taken at the Department to improve processes and preparedness.